Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Puerto Rico: “The mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital city San Juan issued a plea for urgent help as she expressed frustration with the speed at which rescuers were being set to work on the hurricane-ravaged U.S. territory. ‘This is a big S.O.S for anybody out there,’ Carmen Yulin Cruz told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night.”
* Related news: “The Trump administration is restricting lawmakers in both parties from visiting storm-ravaged Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands aboard military aircraft this weekend in order to keep focused on recovery missions there, according to multiple congressional aides.”
* A brewing crisis: “Kurds in northern Iraq overwhelmingly voted to secede from the country, according to results of a referendum announced Wednesday, amid threats of military intervention from the central government and a fierce backlash by its neighbors.”
* The Supreme Court “granted a temporary stay of execution Tuesday night for a 59-year-old Georgia man whose lawyers argue that he is intellectually disabled and that his death sentence is tainted by a juror’s racial bias.”
* Refugees: “President Trump plans to cap refugee admissions at 45,000 over the next year, according to current and former government officials briefed on the decision, setting a historically low limit on the number of people who can resettle in the United States after fleeing persecution in their own countries.”
* Pence’s legacy: “A federal judge permanently struck down provisions of an Indiana law passed last year that would have banned abortions sought due to fetal genetic abnormalities and required that aborted fetuses be buried or cremated.” * Donald Trump, whose affection for conspiracy theories is endless, questioned this morning whether there was “collusion” between Facebook, major national newspapers, and television networks. Apparently, the president believes they were all out to get him. * Some constructive criticism for the paper of record: “Why the New York Times should grapple with its coverage of Hillary’s emails.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
